BlackBerry (BBRY) announced at yesterday’s launch that the new smartphones based on the BB10 platform will not support the BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS).
It became apparent as Rory O’Neill, Vice President of Product & Channel Marketing at BlackBerry, was answering questions related to the BIS service on the BB10 phones and on BB 7 based smartphones.
O’Neill explained that the BB10 smartphones will not come bundled with BIS nor support it. The only service to run on BlackBerry’s infrastructure will be BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) and some enterprise related applications.
O’Neill said: “The R59 per month unlimited data for BlackBerry 7 is a proposition that we really believe in. We work very closely with our mobile network partners to keep that proposition in market.
“We’re continuing to innovate BlackBerry 7 and for the segment of the market where social messaging and that experience is really important, we will continue to have, and we will continue to build out new experiences both from a hardware and software perspective.”
So it is not all doom and gloom for African users of BlackBerry as BIS is likely to still be available for BlackBerry 7 based smartphones.
He added that they are in negotiations with mobile providers regarding how to structure BIS related to BlackBerry 7 based smartphones and he also acknowledged the popularity of BIS in South Africa, but does not believe the lack of BIS in BB10 smartphones will hurt their sales.
O’Neill said: “I don’t think it will hurt BlackBerry, to be honest, because I really think they are two different segments of the market and it’s important that we keep both segments served.”
Anecdotal evidence on social networks and various BlackBerry users suggests that the majority of those in Africa will start considering purchasing “cooler” smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy range and Apple’s iPhone because they would nonetheless have to pay for data charges.
Can dis work in nigeria? Nd how mch is it
lolzzzz….RIM or the so called new company’s name ‘blackberry’ is so dying with this new BB10…if it’s not android or ios, 4get it….even windows mobile can survive cuz dey ve made name with laptop/desktop windows os…….blackberry, even symbian adieu!!!……
I do use blackberry because of their BIS. This is bad as I was hoping to use the bb 10
BB10 will not come with BIS subscription really it’s so smart
This article is false , BIS is available on BB10. Like i said bis is available for bb10 but not compulsory ( u can also use regular data plan &access bbm & push emails)
Hmmm.. Am sure ths wil nt work in nigeria
no BIS hmmm BB10 is not 4 nigeria unless it can print Naira notes, BIS is only reason i use BB.
Hmmm I don’t think it will be available in Nigeria. I think they will jst use their thing them selves
I use bb bcos of bis doommy…..if bb10 does have then its useless…go sell it in togo bitch
I mean doesnt